


The Wayne Brothers

by quivorian



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Batman: The Animated Series, DC Animated Universe, DCU, DCU (Comics)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Eventual Romance, F/M, High School, Humor, Romance, Teen Romance, The Wayne Brothers, a world where love hurts less, quivorian
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-30
Updated: 2017-08-18
Packaged: 2018-12-08 16:46:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11650662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quivorian/pseuds/quivorian
Summary: [TITLE SUBJECT TO CHANGE][ALT-CANON TO 'a world where love hurts less']Barbara Gordon's life was bad.And it was about to get worse.





	1. chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So... It's been a while since I paused on working on what used to be known as 'THE WAYNE BROTHERS' with the promise of returning with a better fic, and now I have.
> 
> Will be updated weekly, and failing that, once every two weeks.

With the gunshot still resounding in his ears, it was a surprise that Dick Grayson could speak at all.

“Barbara.” He cradled the unmoving figure in his arms, as he willed himself to apply pressure to the gunshot wound in her abdomen which continued gushing blood. It was all over her, had already pooled at his knees and soaked through his pants. At this rate, she would bleed out rapidly.

In fact, she had already lost too much blood.

Color was draining fast from her, and framed by her dark hair, her now wan face was in stark unnatural contrast to her beautiful features.

“Barbara,” Dick pleaded, “You have to listen to me, please, do you understand?"


	2. chapter 2

Before, Barbara Gordon’s life was organized.

She had distilled her life, every day of it, down to an exact routine. School, studies, martial arts and self-defense, computing and hacking, time spent with each of her parents… everything that she did was an event, something that fits in a neat little box on the sizable timetable that commanded the wall in front of her desk.

But then, her mom died.

 

Backpack slung loosely over her shoulder, Barbara Gordon adjusted her spectacles and straightened her lanyard as she walked through the hallways of the prestigious Anders Academy of Gotham City. She consulted the map she held in her hand and turned right at the end of the hallway, continuing past a series of doors, letting her eyes move from nameplate to nameplate as she sought for her destination.

A few doors down on the left, she found it. A nameplate boldly declared ‘KATHERINE KANE’ in block letters, with the words ‘Sports Dept. Head/Girls Counselor’ right below it. Barbara double-checked the name with the slip of paper that contained her induction information, and once she was sure that she was in the right place, raised a tentative hand and knocked.

“Enter,” came the voice from inside.

As she reached out to open the door, Barbara’s mind flashed again to the event that had been the reason for the sudden move to Gotham. Her hand trembled and lost it’s grip on the handle. She inhaled deeply and reminded herself to look forward.

 _“This is an incredible opportunity, Barbara,”_ her father spoke in her head.

Barbara latched on to the deep tenor of his voice. She was going to officially begin her first day at Anders, a key part of resuming her life after the limbo the last two months had felt like. She exhaled, and fixing a smile onto her face, opened the door and entered the room. When she turned towards the room, Barbara found herself standing in front of a fiery redheaded woman who was sitting behind a full, but neatly organized desk.

The woman, Ms. Katherine Kane, smiled pleasantly. “Good morning,” she said, pointing at the chair across her desk and gesturing Barbara to sit. “Barbara Gordon?” Ms Kane asked.

“Yes, Ms. Kane,” Barbara answered, sitting down, adjusting removing her backpack and carefully placing it on the floor besides her.

Ms Kane nodded. Then she asked, “Any relation to the Detective Gordon, with Major Crimes of the GCPD?”Barbara raised her eyebrows in surprise. “Yes, I’m his daughter. Um,”—she clasped her hands together—“if you don’t mind me asking, Ms Kane, how do you know?”

Barbara raised her eyebrows in surprise. “Yes, I’m his daughter. Um,”—she clasped her hands together—“if you don’t mind me asking, Ms. Kane, how do you know?”

Ms Kane chuckled, pulled a few loose strands of her hair back and opened a folder on her desk and gave it a cursory glance.

 _It’s obvious._ Barbara’s mind worked quickly, connected the dots. _There is a file on me with all my details._

But when Ms. Kane spoke, Barbara found that she couldn’t fully trust her mind’s conclusions. She was wrong. “I know because my wife works with him.” Ms. Kane explained, a note of pride in her voice. “Maggie Sawyer, she’s the captain of Major Crimes.”

 _Huh._ _That was not what I expected._ A quiet “Oh,” was all the response Barbara could manage.

Ms Kane continued, “Anyway, you can knock it off with the ‘Ms. Kane’. Technically, I am ‘Mrs’.” She raised her hand and wagged her finger, where Barbara saw a simple band of gold. “But I’d prefer that you call me Kate. Just Kate.”

“Okay,” Barbara said, and tested the name. “…Kate.”

“Yeah, just like that.” Kate picked up a paper from inside the file she held in her hand and read it closely. “So… first day at Anders, huh?”

“Yes.”

Kate looked up at her curt answer, but continued nonetheless. “And you’re doing… English — American Literature and Gender Studies. History. Math — Algebra 2 and Precalculus. And…” Kate’s eyes widened and her tone turned incredulous. “You’re choosing to do two languages?”

“Yes,” Barbara affirmed. “I’m doing, uh… Latin and Chinese.”

Kate smiled approvingly. “Impressive. Not a lot of people do that. Chinese is a rare choice. And even less choose Latin. Both are very complex languages. Why the interest?”

“Well, Chinese is the most widely spoken language in the world and the fastest growing. It only seems… prudent to learn it.” Barbara had already made some headway in Chinese on her own and just started on Latin. Both with much interest. “And Latin, well, it’s the language that’s at the root of everything. The English language, law, science, logic… everything. It’s part of the foundation of Western civilization.”

Kate nodded in assent. “You make very good points. Okay, so, that… and you’re doing Forensic Science, hm, good.” Kate continued. “Very good, in fact. I assume the interest came about due to your father?”

“Yes. And I hope to possibly have a career in, um, forensics.”

“I believe you’d do well. Of course, you could take after your father and join the GCPD.” Kate winked. “So, Forensics. Advanced Chemistry. Advanced Physics. Advanced Photography,” she continued listing the subjects. “A lot of ‘Advanced’ subjects, huh?”

Barbara flushed. “Uh, yes, Ms. Kane. Um…”

“Please, Kate,” Kate corrected. “No need to explain.” She shrugged, pointing offhandedly at another document on her desk as if providing an explanation. Barbara tried to lean forward to see what it was, but the document was in an angle that she couldn’t view. “And I also see you’ve elected to take Advanced Computer Science.”

“That’s about it, yes.” Barbara agreed.

“What are you planning to do for your PE?”

“I was thinking I’d take, um, Martial Arts,” Barbara paused for a moment. “I used to do Taekwondo and Judo back in Coast City”—her mind briefly flashed to what used to be her home in the suburbs of Coast City—“I enjoyed that and I’d like to continue it.”

“Martial Arts?” Kate asked with interest. “You’ll be learning with yours truly.” Kate did a little bow and returned to the document she held in her hand. Then she started again, her tone pleased. “Yeah. You certainly have shown that you can do this, your records”—here she looked again at the document at the side, and Barbara realized that was her previous academic grades and other related records—“are very impressive.”

“Thank you, Ms— Thank you, Kate.”

“You’re welcome.” Kate smiled pleasantly. “And I’m sure you’ll find Anders to your liking.”

Barbara was not so sure of it. She hadn’t fully processed all the changes that had happened in the last two months of her life — the memory still haunted her — but she was determined to not squander this opportunity. She would make the best of her new life here in Gotham and all that came with it. “I’m sure I will.”

“Good. I’ve asked for a student — Stephanie Brown, her name is — to take you on a quick tour of the academy, should you wish. She is currently in her American Literature class and will meet you by the Headless Statue outside during the break.” Kate paused for a moment and smirked. “Or if you don’t — since you don’t look like a clueless child — you can at least meet someone who shares a class with you.”

“No, Kate. I’d like the tour.” Barbara said quickly. “And it’d be nice to meet Stephanie,” she added, despite not really caring to meet a huffy rich girl of Gotham’s upper crust.

“That’s good.” Kate pulled a slip of paper and held it out. “This is your timetable.”

Barbara reached out and took the paper in her hand and gave it a quick scan, committing it to memory. “Thank you, Kate.”

“And if you need anything, Barbara, feel free to come meet me anytime.” Kate put the documents she had taken out back into the file and neatly placed it atop a pile on her desk. “I’ll be either here,” she spread hands around her office, “or in the gym.” She waved vaguely to the left towards what Barbara assumed was where the gym was. “That’s about it, I think.”

“Once more, Kate, thank you,” Barbara repeated as she stood up, and straightened her clothes. She picked up her backpack and dusting the imaginary dirt off it, slung it back over her shoulder. She headed to the door, glancing at her watch—she had come into the school late, break was in about 10 minutes— and opened it.

As she stepped outside, Kate spoke up again, stopping Barbara. “Oh, and by the way… I forgot to say this: ‘Welcome to Anders Academy.” Kate winked. “I have to say that. It’s part of our ‘inducting students’ process.”

Barbara found a small smile on her face. “Glad to be here.”

 

The marriage of James Gordon and Barbara Kean-Gordon — her parents — had been fraying for a while, by her father’s long hours at the Coast City Police Department, a miscarriage, her mom’s denial of her increased dependence on alcohol and an assorted list of minor reasons. So, when her mom had admitted to having cheated on her father, that had been the straw that broke the camel’s back and within a week, the divorce papers had been ready and her father moved out, giving her mother the house Barbara had grown up in.

That had been hard, but Barbara understood. As much as she knew that her parents used to be very much in love, love faded and in spite of what happened, she knew that they still loved her very much. They had been united in that fact.

So, even with her father’s move, Barbara made it work. Some changes had to be made in her timetable, but she moved around some pieces, altered some others and managed to keep her life on track. She shared time between her mother and her father, though she did end up spending more time in her father’s apartment, citing that it was nearer to Coast City High, where she went to school and it was easier to get to all her extracurricular activities, in addition to other varied minor conveniences.

Thinking back now, she had to agree that she had had some bitter feelings towards her mother. It was never easy to see and label someone whom you loved as ‘unfaithful’.

It was an ugly word.

Uglier when it was your own mother who was labeled as such.

 

Also very ugly: the Headless Statue.

The inscription below the statue stated that it was the figure of the esteem H. Herman Dent, of the founders of the Anders Academy, that had been immortalized in the bronze sculpture. It looked like Mr. H. Herman had been somewhat a tiny and portly man to begin with, and the sculptor had been a believer in caricature as a form of faithful representation of people. The combination of the two factors didn’t result in something eye-pleasing. And of course, unless Mr. H. Herman had been a medical miracle and lacked a head — someone had also hacked off the statue’s head leaving a gaping hole at the top.

Barbara stood at the statue’s base, her arms wrapped around herself, looking up at the hole when she heard a cheerful voice behind her. “Someone hacked that off about two years ago.”

“Huh?” Barbara turned and found herself looking at a girl about her height with a wild head of strawberry blond hair.

“That statue,” the girl pointed at the neck of the poor Mr. H. Herman. “Someone hacked the head off two years ago.”

“Well, I figured someone must have,” Barbara said. “Heads don’t roll off on their own.”

The girl smiled widely. “I like you, new girl. I’m Stephanie.” She extended her hand. “Brown. Stephanie Brown. You can call me ‘Steph’.”

Barbara took the proffered hand and shook it, trying a smile of her own in return. “Hi, Steph. I’m Barbara Gordon.”

Stephanie turned and dramatically waved a hand towards the main building. “So, shall we?”

 

As the two of them toured Anders Academy, stopping at key locations — the gym, computer lab, library, auditorium, stage, certain classrooms and such — Barbara found that Stephanie’s quick fire demeanour and liveliness distracted Barbara’s mind well enough and kept it from veering into dark territories. Stephanie’s bright and bubbly attitude made her easy to talk to. Stephanie commented on almost everything they passed and Barbara found herself chuckling more than once. She didn’t pry much into Barbara’s life, and didn’t seem to mind that Barbara mostly kept to herself.

Barbara learned, however, that much like herself, Stephanie was also a sort-of scholarship student at Anders and not the huffy rich girl Barbara imagined. That knowledge immediately made her feel more warmly towards Stephanie, not that Stephanie’s personality wasn’t already easy to like.

The abridged tour of the vast premises of Anders Academy took almost twenty minutes. With the quick pace that Stephanie set, they arrived back at the Headless Statue with about five minutes to spare before the break ended.

“So, you’ve seen most of the place.” Stephanie pulled at a strand of her hair, “Um, there is the swimming pool, and the gymnastics room and the woodwork shop and the metalwork shop and the art studio. You haven’t seen those. Or the dance studio.” Stephanie was now twirling her hair in her fingers. “Or the…” She trailed off. “There’s a bunch of places you haven’t seen, actually. I’ll show you around some other time. Break’s almost over…” She groaned. “And I have Bio next.”

Barbara agreed. “Sure.”

“And of course, you still haven’t met the people…” Stephanie emphasized, smiling oddly and then asked, “You haven’t been to a lesson yet, have you?”

Barbara shook her head. “No, I have not.”

Stephanie did a half-raise of her eyebrows, “What’s your first subject at Anders, then?”

Barbara reached into her pocket to pull out her timetable even though her mind’s eye was already projecting it in her head. Barbara handed the timetable to Stephanie, who hummed when she saw the grayed out block for the period after break.

“Ah, you’re lucky. First lesson on your first day and it’s a free period.”

“Of course. And how lucky I must be to get a—” Barbara started, but then chose not to finish that sentence. _I am past being immature._

Stephanie got the unfinished joke and apparently thought it was funny. “So very lucky.” She laughed. Whatcha going to do? During the free…” Her laughter bubbled down as she struggled to finish the sentence. “...time?”

Barbara shrugged. “Maybe the library?” She had been intrigued by the considerable size of the library and books always called to her, always comforted her. It might ease her nerves to read something.

“Good plan.” Stephanie said. Then she made a noise of disgust, frowning. “Ugh. I’ll be suffering in Bio, then.” She pulled out her phone and looked at the time. “Gotta run. What do you have after?”

“Math. Algebra.”

Stephanie’s smile returned. “Me too!” She declared gleefully. “See you then.”

“Of course.”

“Bye!” Stephanie waved and took off at a quick run back towards the main building.

Barbara stood in place for a moment, staring at the mix of students around her. She thought that she would feel out of place amongst Gotham’s Elite, and it was only a matter of time before her inevitable fish-out-of-water situation came up, but meeting Stephanie had delayed that sense of dread, at least. She sighed, shook her head, turned towards the building that held the library and started walking towards it, pulling the straps of her bag tight. “Welcome to your new life, Barbara.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Considering that the prologue is barely 120 words, I've decided to skip the wait and publish Chapter 1 as well. Hope you enjoyed it.
> 
> Beta read by: [Ravelle](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Ravelle).


	3. chapter 3

Barbara thought she handled the divorce considerably well.

She spent most of her time with her father in his two-bedroom apartment, visited her mother almost every weekend and carried on with her studies, did her homework, her research and maintained her academic performance with just minor dips.

But then the car crash came out of nowhere.

 

Barbara’s first day at Anders Academy went considerably well.

Much better than she expected.

She had gone straight to the library after parting ways with Stephanie after the break and found her way there easy enough. Walking into the massive library, she had quickly navigated herself to the Computers section and browsed the books until she found one that had caught her attention. Sitting down in a corner, she had dived into the book, once again keeping her mind diverted, and only emerged after the bell rang indicating the end of the period.

After the library, it was a lone Algebra lesson. Which while not as much fun, had certainly been interesting. The teacher — Ms. McKenna Hall — had been competent and knew how to make the lesson engaging. And Stephanie, finagling her way into sitting next Barbara, and apparently not a fan of mathematics as much as Barbara was, spent most of the less complaining under her breath and doodling at the edges of her notebook. The time was also useful in that Stephanie was providing a constant stream of odd tidbits of information about various things around Anders.

Following Algebra, Barbara had spent the entirety of lunch with Stephanie, walking around the grounds, having a proper conversation about things around Anders. Which was when Barbara learned an interesting, if not obvious fact.

“…and their actual names are Tweedledum and Tweedledee,” Stephanie finished giving her summarized report on the Tweed twins who had passed them on the hallway, respectfully tipping their hats and then fiddled with her hair a bit more before continuing. “And of course, before I forget…” Her tone was meant to be careless, but Barbara could sense that it was affected. “Bruce Wayne’s sons go to school here.”

The most surprising part of that statement itself was that Bruce Wayne had sons — which she didn’t know — but it was painfully obvious that if he did, they would go to the most prestigious school in Gotham.

“ _The_ Bruce Wayne?” Barbara asked.

“You know any other Bruce Wayne?”

“And his sons go to school here?”

“Yeah. They’ve not come to school for a few days, vacation. Or something, I think, but they do.”

A silence stretched between them as Stephanie looked away and fiddled with her hair. Barbara realized, much to her surprise, that Stephanie was probably not going to speak any more on the subject, despite having given an animated and quite detailed briefing on every other student who she thought were either important or interesting.

Barbara didn’t pry more into the Waynes. _Must be a reason Steph doesn’t want to say much._

She’d learn in due time.

After lunch, it was a double period of Chemistry, which to her great disappointment, she didn’t share with Stephanie. And that was it, the end of her first school day in Gotham City. Having said her good-byes to Stephanie, being on the receiving end of a bear hug that was tighter than was expected from a girl of Stephanie’s build and exchanging phone numbers, Barbara left the Anders Academy premises with her mind sufficiently free of worries.

 

Barbara made her way to her the apartment complex where she now lived. Despite being a few floors up, the new apartment was more spacious than their apartment in Coast City. It had not yet gained the feeling of a home, but was equipped with all the necessary facilities and furnishings to ease the transition, and was a modern living space. Barbara didn’t hate it.

She rode the elevator to her floor, lost in the music playing in her headphones, and crossed the hallway to reach her apartment. She fished her keys from her pocket, opened the door and let herself in. Her backpack came off first and was dropped in the sofa, which was followed by her headphones which were wrapped neatly and pocketed and then her spectacles, which she tucked in her t-shirt. Releasing her hair from its ponytail, Barbara headed straight towards her room, ready to take a shower before sitting down to tackle her homework assignments.

“Barbara?” a voice called as she neared her room, and she jumped, momentarily startled.

It took a quick second for her to realize that the voice belonged to her father and not an intruder, and then a few more for her racing heart to calm down.

“Dad?” she turned around, a look of puzzlement crossing her face.

“Who else could it be?” her dad asked jovially. Detective James Gordon stood at the kitchen doorway, still in his brown suit and white shirt, smiling at her. His kind and weary eyes twinkled with affection, though concern was buried right beneath the surface. He walked towards the living room and she followed after him. Her dad set himself down on the couch and motioned for her to come and sit beside him. Barbara had the feeling that her father wanted to have a serious talk but did as she was asked, feeling a fine layer of sweat form as the memories struggled to break out of the steel safe she had locked them up in.

Though she rationally knew her father just wanted to talk and she was not going to be scolded or apprehended — her father had never actually scolded her, much less ground her, even on the rare occasions she had given him reason to — she felt the same sense of apprehension and tension that Jim Gordon probably elicited in the criminals he interrogated. _He’s a detective_ , she justified it to herself.

It was half a wonder that these occasional serious talks didn’t feel like outright interrogations.

Before her dad could begin, she spoke. “You’re home early.”

Her father nodded. “I am.”

“Why… are you home early?”

“Can’t a man want to spend some time with his daughter?” her father asked her, a low chuckle in his voice. When she simply stared at him with raised eyebrows, he continued. “I took a half day,” he explained. “I wanted to be here for you when you returned.”

“Thanks, dad. But you didn’t have to,” she told him.

He mock-gasped. “I didn’t… I didn’t have to?” he asked, holding a hand over his heart in an exaggerated display of hurt. “How could you say that?”

She managed to do a half-roll of her eyes. “You know that’s not what I meant. I simply didn’t expect you to be here.” Barbara truly had not expected that he would be here. This was more evidence that Barbara’s mind was not as sharp as it used to be, because their ritual-of-sorts, where Jim Gordon waited for Barbara back home on her first day of school, had slipped her mind. In addition, what with the sudden move to Gotham and the circumstances surrounding it, Barbara should have expected it.

“Barbara, I will always be here for you.” His piercing blue eyes fixed on hers and his tone turned grave. “And you should always know that.”

The answer gave her a sense of elation. _Life had a way of turning on its head, but maybe not everything changed. Maybe not everything has to._ Jim Gordon had always been a deeply caring and affectionate man, and it mattered a lot to Barbara that her dad had taken time out of his first week at the GCPD to come home early for her. Unbidden tears escaped her eyes, and she smiled through them.

“Thanks, dad.” She swallowed. “Thanks.”

“How are you, Barbara?”

She turned away to quickly wipe her tears. “I’m fine. Feeling okay.”

“You sure?” Her father gently laid a hand on her shoulder. “Because it’s only been two months, and it’s okay if you’re not fine.”

“No.” She shook her head and pointedly looked down at her feet. “Um… I haven’t gotten over it, I think. Not even processed it fully yet, but… but I think I’ll be okay. And I am fine now.”

Jim Gordon hummed understandingly. “I’m glad, your mother would want you to live your life well.” Barbara noticed a tinge of sadness in his voice. “But if you need to talk to anyone…”

“…you’re here,” Barbara finished for him. “I know, dad.”

“Good.”

“Listen, Barbara,” her father started tenderly, “I made some calls today.” He took a deep breath. “I made some calls today, asked around about a good…” He stopped for a moment again. “...about a good therapist.”

Barbara looked up at her father. A therapist? She shook her head. “A therapist? No, no. I don’t need a therapist.” The words came out of her rapidly, even as her throat started tightening. “I’m fine, no therapist—”

She stopped when her father squeezed softly on her shoulder. His voice was gentle. “I’m not saying you have to. I’m just saying that there is a good therapist, a Dr. Leslie, and if you wanted to…” He trailed off. “Only if you wanted to,” he emphasized. “It’s just…” The stoic detective’s voice was becoming rough now, choked. “You’ve been through a lot and it’s fine if you need someone to talk to and I am no expert and…”

Barbara didn’t let him finish his sentence. She couldn’t. The memories broke free and sobbing, she turned and hugged her father hard. After a moment, her father wrapped his arms around her. There was some much needed solace in that, for as normal as the day had been at school, her mother’s untimely death was still weighing on her and she needed the understanding of her father. In between repressed sobs and reigning the memories back into their prison, she managed to mumble, “I’ll think about it, dad. The therapist.”

Almost a minute passed before Barbara pulled away. She wiped her tears with the back of her hand, and cleared her throat, pretending not to see the tears welled up in her father’s eyes. Jim Gordon pulled out his handkerchief and dabbed lightly at his eyes.

A few seconds passed in silence.

“So…” her father started, changing the subject. “How was your first day?”

“Normal,” Barbara replied, terse.

“Nothing interesting happen?”

“Not really, no.” She provided a quick overall summation of her day, mentioning the library, the classes and Stephanie.

“You’ve made a friend,” her father stated as if it was a pleasant surprise.

“What? Does that come as a surprise?”

“Of course.” Jim Gordon forced a laugh. “Not really, no.” A teasing smile formed on his face, but his tone was sincere when he continued. “I’m glad you found a friend. Anything else?”

“It was just a standard day at school, dad, nothing—” Barbara paused as she recalled her meeting with Kate. “Oh, um… the teacher I met with — Kate Kane? — told me that her wife is the Captain of Major Crimes. But that’s about it.”

“Captain of Major Crimes… Maggie Sawyer?”

Barbara affirmed. “Yeah. That’s her.”

“Good woman, she is. Doesn’t take shit from anyone. She’s married to a teacher at Anders? Huh.”

“Yeah. Kate’s the Sports Department Head.”

“Power couple, then.” Jim Gordon muttered admiringly, as he stood up, brining an unexpected end to the conversation and heading back towards the kitchen. “I’m making noodles,” he called out behind him as Barbara stood up and took her bag in hand.

“I’ll be there,” she told him, just to please her dad, though she didn’t feel like eating at all. Barbara headed back towards her room, the only thought on her mind being jumping straight into the shower.

After a long shower and picking at her dinner while her father observed her, holding back from commenting, Barbara sprawled out on her bed and got her day’s assignments done as slowly as she could. Her mind had a habit of always being on, and at home, with nothing much else to do… it was dangerous to let it be. She knew giving it something to do would keep it from wandering off to unnecessary corners, bringing unpleasant thoughts to the forefront of her head. Slow as she tried to be, she was done with the work within forty-five minutes. Just as she resigned herself to the inevitability of the memories and packed her books back into the bag, there was a knock at the door.

“Barbara?” her father called. “I’ve got to be at the station early tomorrow, I’m going to sleep. Good night.”

“Good night, dad,” she replied.

“Sweet dreams.”

 

The dreams, when they came, weren’t sweet.

With no homework for her to distract herself with, Barbara laid on her back and found herself drifting off, with intrusive thoughts of her mother creeping slowly up on her.

Barbara Kean-Gordon was a good woman. A kind woman, and a loving mother. She hadn’t deserved to die like she did, and the day of her mother’s death played vividly in her mind. Meeting her mother outside her school, the car, talking of boys, the stop at Jitters for coffee, the drive out of the city and then, loud and cacophonous as the day it happened, the crash. What she saw that day was burned into her mind, and it was a sight that haunted her at every turn.

The dreams came uninvited and when they did, that series of events that led up to the crash played and replayed itself. And each time, Barbara tried to change the outcome, warn her mother, avoid getting in the car, stay away… but it was all for naught.

Her mother just died again and again and again.And Barbara was powerless to stop it.

And Barbara was powerless to stop it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Been a while, but I haven't forgotten this fic. Just IRL obstacles of many sorts.
> 
> My beta reader is thankfully still [Ravelle](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Ravelle).


End file.
